8052  GEORGE MADAY

1969 Review







1969 - 1973

- Posted to 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment,

- Wolseley Barracks, London, Ontario - Rifle company Platoon commander

- CFB Rivers, Manitoba – Parachute wings

- Cyprus. UN peacekeeping tour on the Green Line

- Ottawa – FLQ Crisis - Battalion HQ

- Petawawa - ADC to Brigade Commander, BGen SV Radley Walters

- Promoted to Captain

- London - Reconnaissance Platoon commander

- Baden Soellingen - Germany – 3 Mech Commando, Canadian Airborne Regiment

    * Rifle Platoon and Anti-Tank Platoon commander

- Paris - at the French Open when the Tupolev crashed in June ‘73

 1973 – 1980

- Ottawa - Commerce Officer, Department of Industry Trade and Commerce.  Worked for two ADM’s.

- Ottawa - President, RMC Ex Cadet Club – Ottawa Branch. Member of National Committee,

  * Hosted Governor General Ed Schreyer at the annual Ottawa Branch Mess Dinner

- Ottawa - Son, Michael born in 1979

- Yukon – Climbed to summit of Mt. Logan, 19,500 feet with three other ex-cadets in 1980

 1981 – 1985

- Atlanta, Georgia – Consul and Trade Commissioner, Canadian Consulate General

- Canadian export development through trade shows, trade missions, reverse investment development

 1985 – 2022 - Atlanta

- Private Sector - International Trade Consultant - Focus on market strategies for entering USA

- Just missed out on a few good opportunities like Ugg and Red Bull.

- Involved in the Atlanta international scene and related functions and activities

- Acted as Interim caretaker for the Quebec Trade Office after they closed …. and later re-opened

- Was at Centennial Olympic Park with son Michael in 1996 when the bomb went off

- Renovated a 7,500 sf warehouse office/loft in downtown Atlanta

- Invested in several rental properties after the real estate crash of 2007

- The trade consulting gig evolved into USA distribution for firms from Germany, Netherlands, Taiwan

- Retired in 2022 after breach of contract and hostile takeover by our biggest European supplier

- Enjoyed many years of ballroom dancing with Vicky – always new steps and styles to learn.

 Braggadocio

I have loved to travel from an early age. It all started when my parents escaped from Russian occupied Communist Hungary in 1948. We passed through Austria, France, and Morocco before arriving in welcoming Canada in 1952. After graduation, I have been blessed with the opportunity to visit, work in or live in numerous countries. I have been to all the Canadian Provinces and Territories, have skied in the European alps of Italy, France, Austria and Switzerland, backpacked + Eurailed through most of Spain and Portugal, weekends in San Tropez, Tivoli gardens in Denmark, casino nights in Baden Baden, strolled Bondi Beach and visited the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, drove the Monaco Grand Prix course at a leisurely 40 kph, Outward Bound Arctic Survival in Norway, trekked through Algeria and Morocco into the Sahara, sailed in Jamaica, Martinique, the BVI…. there’s much more, but you get the idea

 I have especially enjoyed a variety of sports including running several sub-three-hour marathons, and the famous Peachtree Road Race with the numerous T-shirts to prove it. In the winter skiing was my passion, downhill wherever there was a mountain and competitive cross country for ultimate fitness.  Completed the Canadian Ski Marathon’s “Coureur du Bois - Gold” several times.  Sailing, yachting and windsurfing have been other exhilarating and challenging activities either as skipper or crew. You can add to that skydiving, scuba diving and cycling.  My only significant mountain climbing experience was Mt. Logan, second highest in North America.

 I have also been fortunate to meet or be introduced to a diversity of notables associated with politics, sports, entertainment, military - Jean Drapeau, Pierre Trudeau, Governor Ed Scheyer, Moshe Dayan, Raquel Welch, Prince Phillip, Jackrabbit Johannsen, Arnie Palmer, Valery Giscard d’Estaing, Ambassador Andrew Young, Rene Levesque, Ted Turner, Gordon Lightfoot, etc.

 Lastly, I did not have a successful acting career, in spite of a professional “head shot” taken on a dare. But I did have fun participating in several local TV and magazine ads. Autographed pics available.

 2022-TBD

- Moved to Athens, GA, home of the University of Georgia, National Champs, Bulldogs (Dawgs).

- After an extended courtship, married my beautiful southern belle, Vicky (nee Riden) in 2023

  * Thanks to all the classmates and partners who helped celebrate our wedding

- Vicky’s family is from this part of the state, so I inherited a plethora of aunts, uncles and cousins.

- Grandson, Alistair, born February 2023 to son Michael and lovely wife, Dr. Liana.

 Vicky and I “downsized” to a 6,000 sf house on 3+ acres in a spacious subdivision of Athens, minutes away from the essentials of Home Depot, Hobby Lobby, Trader Joe’s, Costco and Texas Roadhouse. I have been designated by my beloved as the yard man, handy man, chauffeur, baggage handler, IT guy, travel coordinator and gofer on the honey-do list. Still trying to find room for my sizeable collection of Eskimo soapstone carvings, African masks and all the medallions my mother, a sculptor, exhibited in Canada and internationally.  I enjoy my contemplative Zen moments gardening and landscaping. Photography has been my “art muse” since my high school years and, many different cameras later, I still carry around my heavy, but trusty Canon SLR. I also try to set aside time each day to escape into the world of reading; the topics ranging from current events, history, legal and espionage thrillers, to the classics. I still have my card I first used in 1957 to check out books from the Tillsonburg library.

 Vicky and I look forward to enjoying the company of family, friends and classmates, traveling, antiquing, and staying healthy.

 

Tempus fugit, y’all.

Cypress


Cypress

RCR London


Vicky

Son Michael


Wedding 2023


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